Hey babes! So, this first chapter is already posted in my Bits and Things collection, but because I have now written a few more chapters for it, I'm posting it in it's own story thing. This chapter takes place about two years in the future and Skye and Ward are together.

It might be a little mature for some readers, so be warned. There isn't anything super explicit, but some people don't like reading some things. And I don't like writing all that smutty stuff, so there's none of that. There is the lead up, though, so shirts come off. :)

Enjoy!

"I still can't believe you actually got shot," Skye says as she dabs a wad of gauze on Grant's shoulder to clear away the excess blood.

"It wasn't even that deep," Grant tells her. "And you managed to get the bullet out just fine."

"Still. There wasn't even supposed to be any gun fire during your mission." She lets her eyes flick towards his face for a moment before she turns back to his wound. She finishes clearing the blood away and tosses the gauze to the side, picking up a thread and needle off of the tray.

"Missions don't always go as planned," he reminds her. "You know that as well I do."

"Yeah, whatever."

She remains quiet and avoids eye contact with him as she quickly stitches up his wound and then sets the needle back down, picking up a damp cloth to clean the blood off of her hands. He reaches back onto the table behind him for his shirt and slips it back on over his head, being careful not to rip apart his fresh stitches.

"Hey," Grant says when he sees Skye fiddling with some of the extra gauze on the tray. "What's going on? You've been kind of distant with me since I got back from my mission."

"It's nothing," she tells him, tossing the gauze back onto the tray and turning away from him.

"Honey, please. Just tell me what's going on with you right now."

"I said it's fine."

"Skye, I can't help you if I don't know what's going."

"You could have died!" She shouts, turning around quickly to face him, hints of tears playing at her eyes. "That's what's going on."

"What? That's what has you so upset? The fact that I could have died?"

"I'm not upset, Grant."

"Well if you're not upset, then what are you?"

"I don't know!" She exclaims, throwing her hands into the air. "I'm feeling all sorts of things right now, Grant. I'm mad at Coulson for sending you out there alone. I'm angry with the men who started firing their stupid guns at you. I'm angry with you for letting yourself get shot. I'm relieved you saw that one shooter when you did and moved when you did. Because if you hadn't, then you wouldn't be here right now! And I'd be miserable! We finally figured things out between us and now we're together and we're actually happy. Something I didn't think was possible again. Then you come so close to dying out there in the middle of this massive gun fight! And it didn't even faze you! Not one bit! It never fazes you! When you got back, you just waltzed in like it was no big deal! You never think about whether or not your next mission could be your last! But I do! Every damn time you go out there without me I get so worried that you won't come back!"

He just stares at her, astonished that she has managed to keep her tears at bay for this long.

"Hey," he stands from his stool and steps towards her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and holding her close. She wraps her own arms around his waist, burying her face in his shirt. "It's okay. I'm here, aren't I?" She nods her head against his chest. "And I always come back, so there's nothing to worry about."

"I know. It's just, what if you aren't as lucky next time?" She leans back slightly and looks up at him, "I can't lose you, Grant. Not now. Not after everything we've been through."

He pulls her close again and presses a kiss to her forehead, cradling the back of her head in one of his hands, his other hand remaining around her shoulders.

"You aren't going to lose me," he whispers to her, burying his face in her hair, breathing in the enchanting scent of her shampoo.

"You can't be sure of that," she mumbles against his chest.

He pulls back and cups her face in his hands so he can look her in the eyes, "Skye. It's just like I told you the day we got together. I will always make sure to tell you the truth. And I'm telling you the truth when I say that I will do everything I can to make sure I always come back to you. I've finally got you and I don't ever plan on leaving you. Not for any reason. You are my entire world, Skye, a world that I never plan on leaving."

"You're my entire world, too," she whispers.

Giving her a small smile, Grant leans down and plants his lips softly against hers. Skye responds to the kiss, wrapping her arms tighter around him and leaning up on her toes to deepen the kiss.

Grant moves one of his hands to tangle in her hair and the other down to her hip, gripping it tightly, yet gently. He begins gently massaging her scalp with his fingers, making Skye moan into his mouth.

Turning them around, Grant uses his whole body to gently press Skye back into the edge of the table behind them. He lets his hand travel down from her head, move slowly down her back, and then finally land on her other hip.

Skye runs her hands along his ribs and then up his torso, resting them, open palmed, on his chest. "Bedroom," she says against his lips.

He pulls away from her and she can see the dazed and loving look in his eyes that he gets every time they kiss each other.

She just smiles at him and then grabs his hand, leading him out of the med bay. They quickly, and quietly, make their way down the many hallways of The Playground towards Skye's bedroom.

Stopping for just a quick moment, Skye reaches up and inputs the code to unlock her door, fumbling a few times because of the lips attacking her neck in hot kisses.

Once the door is open, Skye pulls Grant inside and then closes the door again, making sure to lock it and disable the override function. Just in case.

When the door is closed and locked, Grant pushes Skye back up against the door, holding her in place by his hands on her hips. Pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, Grant moves on to her neck again, kissing a slow line down from her jaw.

Skye's eyes flutter closed and she places her hands on the back of his head, gripping tufts of his hair in her fingers, pushing his lips closer against her skin.

As he continues to kiss along his path, Skye removes one hand from his hair and moves it down to the bottom of his shirt, tugging on the hem of it.

Pulling away, Grant looks her in the eyes, "Are you sure?"

She nods her head, "It's been long enough. I want to do this. Right now."

"Then follow me," he says to her, taking her by the hand and leading her over to her bed. He gently nudges her so she's in a sitting position on the edge of the bed as he stands in front of her, his head titled down to look at her.

He reaches down with both of his hands and grabs the hem of his shirt, pulling it up and over his body, tossing it to the floor. Skye smiles at him before letting her eyes roam appreciatively over his body. Sure she's seen it before whenever he worked out shirtless, but now it's all right in front of her. And she's the one who gets to look at it, touch it, kiss it, and admire it. It's all for her.

Settling her eyes back on his, she reaches down to the hem of her own shirt and grabs it in both hands, lifting it off of her slim body and dropping it to the floor, leaving her in a black lacy bra. She watches as his eyes darken and lets a small smirk play at her lips.

"See something you like?" She asks him flirtatiously.

He nods his head and smiles, "Very much so."

"Good," she smiles before reaching up to grab his face and tug him down to meet her lips once again. He kisses her back, resting one hand on her side where her ribs are and the other on the back of her head.

Skye rubs her thumbs over his scruff, loving the feel of it, before moving her hands from his face and letting them run down over his body. She gently runs the tips of her fingers over his chest, pausing when she is within a few inches of the hem of his jeans. She smirks into the kiss when she feels him shudder beneath her touch.

Grant quickly pulls away and looks down at Skye. "Did you just…?" He trails off breathlessly.

She bites her lip and nods her head. He smiles and dives back in for a kiss.

After a moment, Skye pulls away and smiles at him, "I take it you liked that."

He quickly nods his head. "You've never done anything like that before, have you?"

She shakes her head, "Mm-mm. There are a lot of things I've never done before with my abilities. But I'm willing to try some of them right now if you are."

"Yes please," he breathes out as he dips his head for another kiss.

Skye gladly kisses him back, allowing her fingers to run all over his body, running over every surface of his chest and abdomen, committing every touch of every crease and ridge to memory. As her fingers move over his skin, she sends small vibrations through his body, making him groan and kiss her deeper, just barely tightening his hold on her.

Then she stops and pulls from the kiss.

"What is it?" Grant asks her as he looks down at her with concern in his eyes, his chest moving rapidly as he tries to catch his breath.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers, tears playing at her eyes once again.

"For what?" He asks, his brow furrowing in confusion.

She doesn't respond, just looks down to where her hand is resting on his right side. He looks down as well and then realization and understanding dawns on him. The scars from when she shot him all those years ago.

"It's okay," he says gently, pulling her gaze back up to him. "I forgave you for that a long time ago. We've moved past it. Besides, you knew those were there."

"It's one thing to know. It's another thing to actually see and touch them, knowing that I caused it. Knowing that I could have killed you and you could have died and we wouldn't be here right now. I would have lost my entire world without even realizing it at the time."

"But you didn't," he reminds her. "I survived and I came back. And we are able to have this chance to be happy."

"Yeah," she smiles softly. "We are." Without another word, Skye leans forward and presses her lips to his warm skin, right against the scar of one of his bullet wounds.

Grant takes a quick breath at the touch of her lips against his body, his eyes closing in delight.

One by one, Skye lovingly kisses each bullet wound, lingering for a small moment on each one. Pulling away from the last one, she looks up at Grant to see him looking down at her. He has pure love in his eyes and she does as well.

Reaching out a hand, Grant wipes away the silent tears that had fallen down her face as she kissed the scars of their dark past.

"I love you so much," he says to her as he leans down to press a gentle kiss on both sides of her face where each tear had been.

"I love you too," she whispers, ghosting her lips over his.

She places a chaste kiss to his lips before pulling back. With a single look, he knows exactly what she wants. What they both want and desperately need.

So? What did you all think? Did I tug at your heart strings? I hope I did. Let me know your thoughts down below!

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!